Ramblings in California; containing a description of the country, life at the mines, state of society, &c. Interspersed with characteristic anecdotes, and sketches from life, being the five years' experience of a gold digger.

Pringle Shaw was a Briton or Canadian who spent five years in California in the 1850s. Ramblings in California (1857?) falls into two parts. The first half is an analytical study of California's varied residents (European, Asian, United States emigrants); a history of mining and the evolution of society and law in mining camps and towns; and discussion of the state's prospects for farmers, women, and children. Shaw describes San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Benecia at length and provides a county-by-county and town-by-town analysis of the state's climate, soil, commerce, and demographic patterns. The last half contains anecdotes of Shaw's own experiences as a miner and merchant in both the Northern and Southern Mines, with special notes on routes to California and an account of his passage at Chagres